Gorilla

Gorilla [PDF]

This is in practice a novelization of the foundation of a famous African national park by the descendant of a Belgian colonialist family. To create a safe heaven for his beloved mountain gorillas, the protagonist has to navigate the intricacies of African reality. First through an horrific civil war, and then against the bureaucracy, tribalism, and corruption of the newly formed government.

The novel is well written and never boring, even in the parts narrated with the gorillas point of view. A somber and realistic story of the "me-against-the-world" kind, where the "me" are both the human protagonist and the gorillas, both linked by having to live in a world where their survival is viewed as optional.